Sanitary Supplies For The Homeless

Teen Turned School Project Into Period Kits For Homeless Women

15-year-old Lily Alter, a sophomore at Oak Park River Forest High School in Oak Park, IL, has raised almost $8,000 to help homeless women have access to sanitary supplies, The Chicago Tribune reports.

Why is this so amazing? For homeless women, getting their periods means having no supplies to deal with stopping the flow, which leads to embarrassing leaks. If you've ever been stuck somewhere without a tampon and no way to get one, you have the basic idea of what every month can bring for these women

After completing research and mock proposal for a class, Alter became aware of this issue.

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Her teacher urges students to turn their mock proposals into real action, but few actually do.

"Lily let me know pretty quickly, 'I'm actually going to do this,'" her teacher told the Tribune. "Suddenly, it was off the ground."

Before she even completed the assignment, Alter launched a GoFundMe campaign to create FlowKits. "I read once about how it's really hard to be on your period when you're homeless," Alter told the Tribune. "Tampons aren't like condoms, where people give them out free at progressive stores or in sex-ed classes. Menstrual supplies are more necessary, but you can't get them for free."

As of publication, Alter had surpassed her $1,500 goal and has already created 400 FlowKits. She's raised over $8,000 and has added funding for incontinence kits, as well.